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We took a short holiday to Chengdu in the first week of October, 2014.   Aline had been recommended to us as a guide some weeks before.   Through emails we had arranged a price and a suggested itinerary for our short stay (4 days).   Aline arranged for our pickup at the airport and although our flight had been delayed by 6 or 7 hours, she was willing to start our exploration of Chengdu that night.   She was very informative about areas of the city that are in many tourist guides like the Tibetan street and the market on Jinli pedestrian street and of course the Panda Research Center. 

 
Aline’s suggestions fit perfectly with the limited time we had available.   Her knowledge of the attractions and her superior English abilities allowed us to learn more about Chengdu and area than we could have without her assistance.    Although she had other clients at the same time, we felt that we were the focus of her attention.  

Aline has a special knowledge of food and either took us or sent us to wonderful eating establishments ranging from a street side café to a exclusive restaurant hiding on a busy sidestreet.  She even continued the adventure by sending us the spices needed to make some of the famous Sichuan dishes.  Not many guides will do that!

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Aline acted as a guide for my family on our trip to Chengdu on two days (for our trips to Leshan and Qingshan) and she arranged us to be picked up to and from the airport on four occasions in September 2014. We booked the trip about six months before we arrived in Chengdu. 

Aline is a great tour guide. She was very helpful and courteous. She was good company and helped us to have a good time on our day trips. She also helped us to set up our mobile phones, which was very useful on our holiday. She provided us with useful information about the places we were traveling to. She was on time and was reliable. I have no hesitation in recommending Aline as a tour guide. 

She arranged for her regular driver (Mr Hou) to pick us from and take us to the airport on three occasions. Mr Hou is an excellent driver. He was always on time and friendly. His car was a high quality people mover, which was enough for everyone to be seated, together with our suitcases. I have no hesitation in recommending Mr Hou as a driver. 

On one occasion Mr Hou was not available and Aline needed to employ another driver to take us to the airport. This driver turned up in a small minivan which was not big enough for all of us and so I had to travel to the airport sitting on top of our suitcases. We had paid for a vehicle that was big enough for all of us and our suitcases. We had allowed one hour to get to the airport. We needed a full hour because it was peak hour, in the morning. Instead of using the airport freeway this driver took us through the back streets from central Chengdu to the airport so that he could avoid paying a seven yuan road toll (around one dollar). We almost missed our flights, costing thousands of yuan, because this driver wished to avoid a seven yuan toll. My wife (who speaks fluent Mandarin) told the driver that we need to use the airport freeway but he ignored us. It should be noted that all the other times we have come to or from the Chengdu airport using taxis, the taxis have always used the airport freeway and paid the toll. We tried to ring Aline on her mobile phone (around ten times) so that she could tell her driver to use the airport freeway but we did not manage to reach Aline on her mobile phone because her mobile phone was out of range or turned off. Later, Aline said that she was sorry that the driver had not driven us directly to the airport and we appreciate her apology. We got on to the plane just as boarding was closing. It was a close call. 

 

 

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My partner and I did the half day cooking lesson with Aline. The tour of the market was interesting and made us feel more comfortable understanding living in China. Was lovely that Aline invited us into her home and taught us how to cook such lovely and tasty dishes. Was a great day and would thoroughly recommend it. Read less

We are a family of four with 2 teenage girls.

We arranged a tour for Chengdu with Aline and she was brilliant. Extremely well organized, friendly, professional, fluent English and a delight to have around.

Nothing was a problem and everything went well.

Aline was very easy to communicate with whilst arranging the tour and all her suggestions, such as the hotel we stayed at, were great. Her choice of restaurants was also superb. Had fantastic food at places we would never have been able to find ourselves.

We visited the Chengdu Panda sanctuary, which was a highlight of the trip, and the Lehsan giant Buddha which was also very interesting.

I would thoroughly recommend Aline to anyone, and if ever we are back in China we would definitely use her. In fact we are hoping to do one of her mountain and lakes tours.

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My friend found Aline online and you can imagine we were skeptical about how things would work out.  With minor miscommunications the trip turned out to be a great choice. Aline helped to arrange the entire trip for us - itinerary proposal, car and hotel arrangements, tips and suggestions. Not only she was right on with the recommendations, the trip was reasonably priced.

We went from Shanghai to Huanglong-Jiuzhaigou via Chengdu.  Even though we never met Aline, she was just a phone call away.  The driver who picked us up in Chengdu was super nice, and seemed to have a good relationship with Aline - a good sign of trust.  As much as I wanted to go with the flow, arranging a private car and cater to what we want to see was absolutely worth it.  There is none of the "shopping stop" pressure and stop anywhere we want along the way.  We stayed in the Jiuzhaigou National park at a Tibetan guesthouse with her recommendation. Coolest thing ever!  Not all the travel agents have the connection to hook this up.

With that said, there were some confusion about detailed arrangements.  Make sure you make your requests very clear (and uncomplicated) and have the clear confirmation back.  Sometimes things are "assumed" on both sides and cause unpleasantness for an otherwise great trip.

I would recommend Aline for any of my friends who wants to explore the area.

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I returned from a solo trip to Sichuan, April 8-15, organized, monitored and partly guided by Aline. If you are looking for a tour that is sewn especially for you, according to your personal interests, contact Aline - she is the one! Mine were local life mixed with some tourist attractions. The details of the trip were agreed and summarized along two months of frequent e-mails exchange; it turned out to be perfect!  As I am a seasoned traveler in China that was served by several independent guides, I can say with confidence that Aline is by far the best!!  She is dedicated to her job absolutely, 24/7, all with patience and friendly manner.

I wish I could enjoy her service and guidance in my future trips to other parts of China.

Itzhak Golan
Ramat Hasharon, Israel

 

 

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